I replaced the after market rear view mirrors with Volvo mirrors (with studs accessed from inside the door) ordered from VP. The passenger side was a bear. I ended up super gluing the lockwasher and washer together so they'd stop falling off when I tried to fit the nut on. I wasn't looking forward to the driver side since I knew it would be just as hard but I'd have to do it left-handed. After an hour or more I was beat - I drilled a couple of access holes in the door and enlarged them with a rat tail file so I could fit a 10mm socket through them, and came at the studs straight on.
I can't see that the new holes affected the structural integrity of the doors or will create any new problems (with a little POR rustproofing on the exposed steel), but if anyone has installed the stud mount mirrors, how did you do it?
The second question - I've read about drainage holes in the doors but couldn't find anything. Where are they? The inside of the doors are dusty and dirty, but rust free.